Prime Minister to hold talks with President Bush

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek is to meet with US President George Bush in the White House on February 27th to discuss Czech-American cooperation in missile defense. According to a White House statement the talks will also focus on NATO missions in Afghanistan and Iraq in which the Czech Republic is actively involved. The US wants to deploy part of its missile defense system in Central Europe with a tracking radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland. Neither country has as yet reached a final decision on the matter. Although the Czech government supports the plan, the opposition and the public are vehemently opposed to it.